My name is Fiyaz Mughal and I have been working for over 25 years within communities in the United Kingdom. These include working with diverse communities, both of faith and race. Many of the projects have involved supporting a sense of ‘belonging’ and well-being and where the background identities and experiences that people bring within communities can be respected and honoured, whilst ensuring that people feel that they have a sense of attachment to their local areas.

I am a registered BACP member and realised within my decades-long work with people and communities, that anxiety and mental health conditions can seriously affect the future decisions and life outcomes of those affected.

Yet, I have also come to realise that counselling support can provide a route through which people can feel rooted, more confident and able to manage anxiety, thereby moving their lives forward.

Allied to this, I have lived experience of managing long-term anxiety in my life and I have sought pathways that have worked for me, in managing anxiety. One of those pathways, was dedicated and committed work in therapy, in understanding the root causes of my anxiety, how it manifested itself in my life, my thoughts and ultimately in my actions. This process of understanding, opened up a way in managing the anxiety and ultimately in significantly reducing its impacts on my life.

This is also why I have chosen to be a counsellor and to give back to people and to communities, who ultimately make up my life’s work; because in the end, the more self-empathic, understanding and emotionally connected we are to each other, the less we feel unhappy. It really does come down to something as simple as this.